NEIGHBOURHOOD

Mishaps claim five lives in four days
Tribune News Service

Fatehgarh Sahib, March 6
Five people have lost their lives in different accidents during the past four days on the busy Chandigarh-Ludhiana road. The deceased include a 12-year-old boy, a physically challenged man, a retired teacher and two others.

A truck that met with an accident; and (right) mangled remains of a motorcycle. Photos: Gurdeep Singh Mann

The retired teacher had lost his son in a similar accident six years ago.

As per the investigating officer, Balbir Singh from Khamano police station, retired headmaster Mahinder Singh (73) from Sanghol was travelling in an Alto car last night with two others, Rupinder Singh and Gurdev Singh.

While Gurdev was admitted in a nearby hospital with minor injuries, the headmaster died on the spot. The Alto car hit a stationed truck near Neewan Jatana village near the Chandigarh-Ludhiana road. The relatives, however, did not wish to initiate any police case. The headmaster’s son, Jaswant Singh Pinka, also died in an accident around six years ago near Bassi Pathana.

Investigating officer Balbir said he had joined four days back and had already witnessed five accidents. Physically challenged Joga Singh (50) died after a speeding bus near Mansurpur village hit his tricycle. On the same day, 22-year-old Lakhvir Singh and his 12-year-old nephew Harkirat also got killed in an accident near Maheshpura village.

Lakhvir from Burj village and Harkirat of Keema Bhaini village near Ludhiana were riding a bike and collided head-on with a bus.

On Wednesday, a speeding bus near Lakhanpur village hit Charanjit Singh (50) of Nanuwal Khurd village, who died on way to hospital. Charanjit was returning to his village on a bike.

Police officials said an unidentified vehicle near Khamano hit a migrant labourer on the Ludhiana-Chandigarh road. The labourer, identified as Manoj Kumar, hailed from Ranchi and was presently residing in Fauji Mohalla, Ludhiana. He lost both his legs in the accident and was undergoing treatment at the PGIMER, Chandigarh.

Police officials and area residents said the increasing volume of traffic had increased accidents in the past few years.

Mohali, March 6
The Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ), Mohali, Rajinder Aggarwal has sentenced six persons to seven years of rigorous imprisonment (RI) for being involved in a two-year-old case of robbery at Zirakpur.

The six accused, identified as Ishrar Khan, Quim, Guarav, Israr, Veer Bahadur and Som Bahader have been held guilty of robbing Balbir Singh, a clerk in the Haryana health department, of cash, an ATM card and other valuables.

On December 20, 2009, the victim, who was on his way to Haldari village in Ambala after attending a marriage at Ropar, was offered a lift from near the Tribune Chowk, Chandigarh.

Without suspecting any foul play, he accepted the offer and boarded the vehicle of the accused to reach Ambala. On reaching near Bhankarpur, the accused assaulted him and forced him to hand over his valuables at a knifepoint. An ATM card, a mobile handset was also taken away from him. Later the victim also found that Rs 10,000 had been withdrawn through his ATM card.

A case under Sections 149, 323, 380, 395 and 506 of the IPC was registered at the Zirakpur police station.

On December 24, 2009, Ishar Khan, along with Guarav was arrested by the police for possessing a stolen vehicle. During interrogation, they confessed of having robbed Balbir Singh.

Chandigarh, March 6
The UT Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum has directed Baba Deep Singh Ji Multi-Specialty Institute to refund Rs 15,000 to a student, who had deposited the money for getting admission to class XII in a CBSE-affiliated school.

The forum also told the institute to pay a compensation of Rs 5,000 along with the litigation costs of Rs 7,000. The order was issued on a complaint filed by Rashmi Sharma, a resident of Sector 18.

In her complaint, Rashmi said she was assured of admission in a CBSE-affiliated school, but the institute fail to provide it. As a result, she could not secure admission in any school, the complainant claimed. After hearing the complaint, the forum passed an ex parte order, as no one appeared on behalf of the institute.

Chandigarh, March 6
The UT Consumer Dispute Redressal Forum has directed the National Insurance Company to pay Rs 41,000 to the Haryana Warehousing Corporation on account of theft of 116 wheat bags from the insured premises of the corporation.

According to the complaint, the corporation had stocked wheat bags in an open area at the State Warehouse in Palwal and insured the stock for a period from July, 2003, to 2004.

A theft of 116 bags on the night of November 22, 2003, was reported and an FIR was registered. The insurance company was duly informed the next day.

The company refused to pay Rs 41,000 as a no-traced report by the police was not submitted along with the claim. In its reply, the insurance company stated that the claim had been filed as ‘no claim’.

This plea was rejected by the forum on grounds that ‘no claim’ did not constitute final repudiation of the claim and non-release of the claim for about seven years amounted to deficiency in service.

Panchkula, March 6
Bodies of two missing members of a family were found hanging from a tree in a dense forest area near Morni late last night.

After receiving information, a police team, led by DSP Badri Parshad and SHO, Chandimandir police station, rushed to the spot and sent the bodies to the General Hospital, Sector 6. A team of the Central Forensic Science Laboratory also arrived at the spot and took samples of the possible fingerprints at the site.

Police sources said Mohinder (28), who was a driver in a private transport company, had returned to his house after 10 years. He, along with his sister-in-law Rajni (in her early 30s), had been missing since Friday evening. Some of the passers-by saw their bodies hanging from a tree and informed the police.

The Chandimandir police has registered a case and the bodies of the two were handed over to their family after conducting the postmortem.

Zirakpur, March 6
Thieves decamped with diamond jewellery, cash and valuable articles from the residence of Amit Kohar, a practicing advocate of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Savitri Enclave, situated on the VIP road, here.

In his complaint to the police, Amit Kohar, a resident of 43-F, Savitri Enclave, VIP road, stated that he went to attend a family function along with his wife in Chandigarh on Friday around 7 pm.

Kohar said when he returned around 12 am, he found that the lock of the main door was broken and lights turned on. The thieves also broke the lock of the bedroom and left empty boxes of jewellery scattered on the bed.

He claimed that Rs 25,000, one diamond “mangalsutra”, a pair of diamond earrings, a pearl set, a gold chain and two wristwatches were missing. The owner claimed that total loss from the theft was about Rs 2 lakh.

He suspected that the miscreants had conducted reconnaissance before committing the crime. He informed the police about the incident. The police said a case was registered on the complaint of Kohar.

Meanwhile, residents of the area alleged that there was no chowkidar for night patrolling in the society. They demanded that the authorities concerned should provide a chowkidar and install safety systems in the society.

Panchkula, March 6
Due to paucity of space at its godown, the excise and taxation department has dumped about 50 trucks and cars worth several crores of rupees at the Mini Secretariat in Sector 1 here.

A view of the impounded vehicles adjacent to the Mini-Secretariat complex, Sector 1, Panchkula. Tribune photo: Nitin Mittal

The trucks were seized either by raiding parties of the police or the excise and taxation department. These were mainly impounded for smuggling whisky from Chandigarh to Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. As the department imposed heavy penalties, ranging from Rs 50 to Rs 500 per bottle, the owners of the trucks did not show any interest in getting their vehicles released.

The windscreens of most of the vehicles in the Mini Secretariat compound had either been removed or damaged by the miscreants who had easy access from the entry point from the Panchkula-Pinjore National Highway-22. The miscreants had removed the tyres and other machinery of these vehicles, causing loss to the department.

According to sources, as the country made foreign liquor was very cheap (Rs 90 per bottle) in Chandigarh, the smugglers illegally transported it to neighbouring states as the liquor fetched higher prices there.

Sources in the department said in most of the cases the drivers, fearing arrest, abandon these vehicles after the department conducted raids. Whenever any one was arrested in the case, the accused did not reveal the names of the main smugglers and preferred to undergo imprisonment.

When contacted Madhu Bala, Deputy Excise and Taxation Officer, said the police impounded these vehicles and parked them in the area due to paucity of space at the department’s godown. She said the department was in the process of auctioning these as the owners had failed to take these back in view of high penalties imposed on them.

Chandigarh, March 6
Two motorcycle-borne miscreants snatched a bag belonging to Indu Verma from Sector 32 yesterday. The victim, a resident of Sector 34, alleged that the bike number of the assailants could not be noted. The bag contained cash worth Rs 25,000, an ATM card, a driving license and keys.

Chandigarh, March 6
The Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) is expecting more viewers for the March 11 clash between West Indies and Ireland after facing a cool response in the previous game held here.

The in-form Ireland team will be the centre of attraction for the people in and around the state, as the team is looking forward to give a good competition to the Caribbean team here and the ball is also expected to come fast on bat.

According to MP Pandove, secretary PCA and treasurer BCCI, the cricket lovers will turn in huge numbers to witness the match after a good competitive performance by the teams of Pool-B.

“We are expecting more crowd this time at the PCA Stadium, as the match is important in the perspective that which team will top the pool with highest points and the brilliant performance by the Irish team in the past matches against England and host India will also attract the cricket buzz to watch the action at the stadium,” said Pandove.

On the other hand, the West Indian team after bowling out Bangladesh on merely a score of 58 runs is also looking back in form.

“I had bought six tickets for my family for the upcoming match between the Windies and Ireland and now looking forward to Chris Gayle or Kevin O’ Brien coming up with raining centuries during the match,” stated Rahul Bhagta, a cricket fan from Shimla.

PCA spokesman Sushil Kapoor also believed that the second match would attract more viewers.

“We are expecting a large number of gathering to support the teams, as the match will be crucial for both teams. It will lead to a complete entertainment package for the viewers, as both teams are in their best forms and will likely to give a good competition to each other,” said Sushil Kapoor.

Chandigarh, March 6
Patiala and Jalandhar gatka teams won top honors in the Punjab State Open Gatka Championship at Mohali Dushera ground here today. A total of 63 gatka teams from Punjab took part.

Results

Girls (U-25) — Single team event: Jalandhar, Barnala, Fatehgarh Sahib — Girls (U-19) Single 
team event Mansa, Tarn Taran, Patiala and
Jalandhar — Boys (U-19) Single team event;
Patiala, Ludhiana, Kapurthala — Boys (U-21) Single team event; Jalandhar, Moga and Fatehgarh Sahib, Bathinda — Girls (U-25) singles Kulbir Kaur Harpinder Kaur, Amanpreet Kaur, Kamaljeet Kaur Manpreet Kaur; Boys (U-25) — Singles arms training Baljeet Singh Jajeet Singh, Dhram Singh and Gurvinder Singh

Chandigarh, March 6
Delhi-based professional Vinod Kumar and amateurs Surinder Pal Singh, Balwant S Brar and SK Khaitan won the pro-am event of the Aircel PGTI Players Championship held on the par-72 greens of the Chandigarh Golf Club here today.

The pro-am was played in the team scramble format where the team’s best ball was chosen on every shot. After the best ball was chosen all other players were to place their ball within one score card length before continuing play. Vinod Kumar’s team scored 56.9 points, with professional Ranjit Singh and his team of Col JS Kang, Brig Pradeep Sharma and Sandeep Jasuja finishing second logging 57.6 points. Dr GS Kochhar won the straightest drive on hole number 6, his drive landing on the centre of the fairway.

Col JS Kang was closest to the pin on hole number 3, his shot landing 4.9 ft from the pin. The closest to the pin shot on hole number 11 was won by SK Khaitan.

Chandigarh, March 6
Amanpreet secured first position in the 100m race (girls) during the annual athletics meet of Aryans Group of Colleges organised at its college premises here today.

Gurjeet and Sarabjeet were declared as joint winners for the second position while Richa Gupta finished third in the race.

RESULTS

100m race (boys) - Mithun, Naveen, Pushpinder and Sanjay; 200m race (girls) - Amanpreet, Sarabjeet Kaur, Veena Sharma; 200m race (boys) - Pushpinder, Parveen Bhatti, Sanjay; volley ball - Happy Club; table tennis - Varun; badminton (singles, girls) - Arti, (singles, boys) - Zaid; badminton (doubles, girls) - Sakshi and Sukhwinder; (doubles, boys) - Chand and Mohit; carom - Abdul Raouf, Sumit, Syed; high jump - Mithun, Mukesh, Naveen; long jump (girls) - Gurjeet, Veena Sharma, Ravinder Kaur; (boys) - Mithun, Vikram, Pushpinder; javelin throw (boys) - Rohit, Ravi Kaushal, Mukesh; (girls) - Monika, Neetika, Shalini; discuss throw (boys) - Vikas, Ravi Kaushal, Mukseh, (girls) - Monika, Neetika; sack race (girls) - Ravinder, Sakinder, Sarabjeet; (boys) - Naveen, Zahur, Mohit; 3-legged race (girls) - Sakshi and Jaswinder, Anjana and Kimmi, Veena and Manisha; potato race (boys) - Vikram, Shukanto, Himesh; (girls) - Vandana, Neha, Poonam.

Chandigarh, March 6
Tarundeep Chadha of Chandigarh carded a par score on the final day to help team India to clinch the gold medal in the Asian Junior Golf Team Championship at the Damai Alaut Golf Club, Perak, in Malaysia last week.

Currently ranked No. 3 in the IGU merit list, Tarundeep was a member of team India, along with Trishul Chinappa (Bangalore), Chikkarangappa (Bangalore) and Syed Saquib Ahmed (Bangalore), who took part in the championship, in which golfers from Thailand, Singapore, Korea and Japan participated. The team India led on the opening day with a +5 score. They slipped to the third slot on the second day. On the final day, Tarundeep carded the best round of even par, which helped team India to occupy the top slot.

Due to this historic win, the Indian junior golf team has qualified for the World Junior Golf Team Championship to be held in Japan in June, 2011.

Not only this, Tarundeep Chadha will also be representing India at the Asian Tournament of Champions to be held at the Grand Cypress Resort, Orlando, Florida, the USA, from May 27 to 30. This was made possible after Tarundeep won the qualifiers for the IJGT-Hank Haney Asian Junior Golf Tour held at Jaypee Greens Golf Resort, Noida. Chandigarh Golf Club president Birinder Singh Gill congratulated Tarundeep Chadha and said, “It is a great moment for all of us at the Chandigarh Golf Club that a junior from our club is doing so well at the international stage.”